Hi from Georgia

[mboykin]

Hi, I joined to get some ideas and information to help my son with his science fair project. He wants to do a water rocket and test the effects of different combinations of water/air pressure/foam. we have launched a few bottles with a thrown together launcher made of scrap pvc, but it requires someone pumping vigorously while i hold the bottle. the next step is to build a real launcher with a safe reliable release mechanism and a pressure gauge. ive browsed around a bit and yall have a lot of good info here. hopefully with your help we can win.

[WRA2]

Hi, I joined to get some ideas and information to help my son with his science fair project. He wants to do a water rocket and test the effects of different combinations of water/air pressure/foam. we have launched a few bottles with a thrown together launcher made of scrap pvc, but it requires someone pumping vigorously while i hold the bottle. the next step is to build a real launcher with a safe reliable release mechanism and a pressure gauge. ive browsed around a bit and yall have a lot of good info here. hopefully with your help we can win.

Welcome to the forum

[Brian]

Cable ties are a good way to hold down a rocket during pressurization. maybe search "clark cable tie launcher" in google. an air compressor can save you from pumping vigorously. you could buy a pump with a built in gauge.
you two should post your results of your tests.
good luck in the science fair!

[U.S. Water Rockets1]

Hi, I joined to get some ideas and information to help my son with his science fair project. He wants to do a water rocket and test the effects of different combinations of water/air pressure/foam. we have launched a few bottles with a thrown together launcher made of scrap pvc, but it requires someone pumping vigorously while i hold the bottle. the next step is to build a real launcher with a safe reliable release mechanism and a pressure gauge. ive browsed around a bit and yall have a lot of good info here. hopefully with your help we can win.

In addition to the suggestions already made, you may want to look at launchers which use a gardena hose quick connect. The connector is a quick release for a garden hose, which holds very well and releases with a single pull. Many people just starting out like these launchers because of their simplicity and ease of construction. If you get ambitious later on, you can switch over to one of the more complex launcher designs. The gardena launcher would get you up and running very quickly.

[mboykin]

Thanks for the tips. I am looking at using the gardenia connectors. I actually have some already from my water hose, i just need to get an adapter to connect to the bottle/rocket.

[thampson]

A standard metal clamp is the easiest way to connect the gardena connector to a hose.

There are quote a few pics of this on our launcher on our website. Use the tag cloud with the key word launcher or use the search function for launcher

Good luck with the build and flights

-todd-